Chicago Blackhawks Quarter Century Third Team

I think that the NHL did a perfect job in naming the Quarter Century Teams for the Chicago Blackhawks that were revealed at the Winter Classic. Every player named to the first or second team deserved to be there and were correctly placed. That being said, what if we were to go a little bit deeper and craft up a third team?

After Team 1 of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford as well as Team 2 of Marian Hossa, Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Saad, Brian Campbell, Nick Hjalmarsson, and Jocelyn Thibault, Team 3 would be a little more interesting.

A lot of those players were with the Blackhawks for multiple Stanley Cups, led all Blackhawks since 2000 in games played, and offensive production. The race gets a lot tighter right after these selections, but there are some more players that should be recognized. Here they are:

Chicago Blackhawks Quarter Century Team 3

Artemi Panarin - Alexei Zhamnov - Steve Sullivan

Connor Murphy - Seth Jones

Nikolai Khabibulin

Panarin played just two seasons in Chicago after signing as an undrafted player, but those two seasons were dynamic. He scored 30 goals and 77 points as a rookie and 31 goals and 74 points in his second and final season before being traded. In that time he won a Calder Trophy and has the 18th most points among all Blackhawks players from 2000 through to 2025.

Related: Blackhawks Name Quarter Century Teams At Winter Classic

Sullivan should be seen as the next best forward for the Blackhawks in the last quarter century. He ranked ninth in points over that span for Chicago and was just two points behind Saad in 131 fewer games. The games played is what kept him off the second team.

Zhamnov was a skilled player who could have easily made the quarter century team if they had gone back a few more years. But that isn't how it works. He put up 232 points between 1996-97 and 1999-00 and still produced 192 points in 237 games from 2000-01 and on.

Jones is the best defenseman on the Blackhawks currently and has been on the team for a few years now. He logs the most minutes, plays on the top power play and penalty kill, and is a strong offensive talent. He didn't have the games to make the same impact on the Blackhawks as Campbell and Hjalmarsson and has been on bad teams as well.

Murphy has been a Blackhawk for a fair bit longer and has had a good impact defensively, but just like Jones, he has also been on the team through losing years, not the stellar early 2010s. Murphy has played the ninth most games for the Blackhawks since 2000 and is still going strong.

Khabibulin was so close to being named as the goalie for the Quarter Century Team 2, but he started seven fewer games, had a worse GAA, and SV% than Thibault. Khabibulin finished his time with the Blackhawks with 200 starts, 206 games played, a record of 91-80-25, a 2.84 GAA, .902 SV%, and six shutouts.

The next Quarter Century Teams for the Blackhawks in 2050 are a long ways away, but should be very interesting. I can see a handful of current Blackhawks being there.

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